Malaysia´s Fernandes rules out West Ham stake

Malaysian aviation tycoon Tony Fernandes on Tuesday ruled out becoming a minority stakeholder in West Ham, after he lost out in a bid to take control of the English Premier League club.

Former Birmingham City owners David Sullivan and David Gold on January 19 said they had won full control of the east London club after acquiring a 50-percent stake in a move they admitted only made sense to them as lifelong supporters.

Sullivan secured an option to buy the remaining 50 percent at any time in the next four years but said he would prefer to attract other wealthy West Ham fans, including Fernandes, to join him in investing in the club.

Asked whether he was interested, Fernandes replied: “No”.

“My main concern is I went for 100 percent of the ownership because I think you need to have one leader. And I’m not sure two leaders is the right thing right now,” he told reporters.

Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia and the boss of the Lotus Formula One team, said he had strong support from the club’s fans, and would have brought “a new marketing and branding perspective”.

“I’ve received close to about 8,000 emails from West Ham fans and if you look at all the fan websites I was a very popular choice,” he said.

“Why I didn’t go for their bid was because I didn’t think it was the right thing for the club at the time.”

West Ham has been financially crippled by the fallout from the credit crunch and its impact on its former Icelandic owners.

Sullivan and Gold’s acquisition of a 50 percent stake values the club at 105 million pounds (171 million dollars), only fractionally more than its outstanding debts which Sullivan said now stood at 102 million pounds.

That includes 50 million pounds owed to banks and 40 million owed to other clubs for transfers.

The centrepiece of the new owners’ strategy for reviving the club is a move from their current 35,000-capacity home at Upton Park to the nearby Olympic Stadium.